Maurice Dantin (died January 10, 2012) was an American attorney and politician.

Early life

Dantin attended

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

and played on the school's football team. He enrolled at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in 1948 and graduated three years later with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. In September 1951 he joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

after completing the

Officer Candidates Course The United States Marine Corps Officer Candidates School (OCS) is a training regiment designed to screen and evaluate potential Marine Corps Officers. Those who successfully complete the period of instruction are commissioned as Second Lieutenan ...

. He served with the recon company of the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina ...

from February 1952 until April 1953 before later serving with

VMA-124 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 124 (VMFA-124) was a flying squadron in the Marine Forces Reserve based out of Naval Air Station Memphis flying the A-4 Skyhawk. They were part of Marine Aircraft Group 42 and were decommissioned on 19 June 1999. ...

and VMA-143 as an intelligence officer. In 1953 he enrolled at the

University of Mississippi Law School The University of Mississippi School of Law, also known as Ole Miss Law, is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The School of Law offers the only dedicated aerospace law curr ...

and secured a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree. Dantin later retired from the Marine Corps with the rank of colonel.

Political career

Dantin ran for the office of governor of Mississippi in 1975. He placed third in the Democratic primary, earning 179,472 votes. In 1978 he won the Democratic nomination for a

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

seat in Mississippi. He lost the general election to Republican Thad Cochran, taking only 32 percent of the vote, with many black Democrats instead choosing to vote for independent Charles Evers. He endorsed

Wayne Dowdy Charles Wayne Dowdy (born July 27, 1943) is an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Mississippi. He was first elected in a 1981 special election and served four terms in the United States House of Representatives. He later served as chai ...

in the 1991 Mississippi gubernatorial election.

Later life

Dantin died at his home in Columbia, Mississippi, on January 10, 2012, at the age of 82.

References

Works cited

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